VERNON Philander’s selection ahead of Kyle Abbott in the South African team that played in the 2015 World Cup semifinal was imposed on AB de Villiers‚ a new book says."It was generally assumed the same team (that beat Sri Lanka in the quarter-final) would be named to play in the semi-final‚" De Villiers writes in AB: the autobiography‚ which was published on Thursday."That was my expectation as captain until I was called to a meeting at 5.30pm on the evening before the match‚ half an hour before our usual team meeting was due to start‚ and was told Vernon Philander‚ who had passed his fitness test a few days earlier‚ would play instead of Kyle Abbott."READ THIS: Proteas in bid to reclaim lost groundDe Villiers does not reveal who summoned him to the earlier meeting‚ who else attended and who issued the order that Philander would play.Philander‚ who struggled with form and a hamstring injury to such an extent that he played in only half of SA’s eight games in the tournament‚ was dri...
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